Wed., Dec 26 - 29/12

Wi-Fi was bad last night. Everybody in the park was probably on-line. Waited until this morning.

We made it safely to Florida. We are now in St. Augustine for another day - then ???

Liz, Nick & Marty made it as well - we are beside them - they are on our right. Two of their friends that followed them are on our left.

 

Day 1 - Wed., Dec 26/12 (Boxing Day)

We made it through to the first Flying J (New Milford, PA) with no problems. We skipped breakfast there at Denny's as the storm was coming in from Ohio.

When the storm hit it was freezing rain. There were 2 solid lines of traffic going south on I-81. When we weren't stopped we moved at between 5 and 15 mph.

 

It was like this for the next 3 hours. A dozen or more cars in the ditch when we went through.

Finally, the snowplows were out in Maryland near Hagerstown. The roads were just wet and we were back up to 55 mph. Amazing how salt and moving traffic clears the roads.

 

Unfortunately, Maryland in this section is very narrow - less than a half hours worth of travel. West Virginia wasn't quite as good; but at least plowed. WV is only about 15 minutes wide in this section and soon we were into Virginia.

Filled up at the Flying J (Clear Brook, VA). It was now raining. This created 4-6 inches of wet slush.

We pulled into our traditional Walmart SuperCenter stop at Winchester. Liz pulled in about 15 minutes later. All 4 RV's were in within a half hour. Another 2-3 RV's here with us. This is not a "No Stay" Walmart - it is a "No permission" Walmart. For legal reasons they can't give "permission" to stay. In other words - don't ask - just stay! 24 Hr. SuperCenters - especially on the first night - allow us to shop or use the washroom at any time - great! We don't leave with anything that freezes so it was Walmart shopping for these essential items.

Nick got an email picture from Bernie (neighbour) - Wow! We just made it out before the major dump!!! Hwy 401 and Hwy 2 were closed, as well. Don't mind missing a few feet of the white stuff!

Day 2 - Thu, Dec 27/12

Another tradition - breakfast in Liz's trailer before we head out - mmmm, good!

Normally, we wave good-bye to Liz where I-66 to Washington, DC meets I-81 and we head to Arizona. This year we are going to Florida for a change.

I-81 to I-66 then US-17 through Warrenton, VA to join I-95 at Fredericksburg, VA is the best route for RV's. It gets us out of the mountains and potential snow quicker. It is also a lot less of a strain as the terrain is a lot more level and we miss the crush of traffic around Washington.

This just means less time in the crush. It was 3 lanes of stop and go traffic on I-95 from Fredericksburg until to near Ashland, VA. No accidents - just real slow downs at every on ramp. I-95 at Richmond isn't too bad on the weekends. We take I-295 around being this is a weekday. Travel from here was fairly normal except for a few slowdowns to 5 mph due to rubberneckers. One slow down was 8 miles long due to them slowing down to look at a cop with a car in the median - unbelievable!

We filled at the Flying J at Kenly, NC and had a late lunch at their Denny's (2 pm). The food has improved at Flying J's since Pilot bought and brought then out of bankruptcy. This lead to many getting Denny's as well. NC also has the cheapest gas - $3.09 a (US) gallon.

Good driving all the way into another tradtional stop - Walmart at Walterboro, SC. Still down to freezing at night. This Walmart does not allow Transports - RV's are OK. There were around 30 RV's in here for the night.

Day 3 - Fri., Dec 28/12

On the road again for day 3. We filled up at the Flying J in Brunswick, GA just before the FL border. Florida fuel is more expensive. We all met at the Florida Welcome center. Then all left for Camping World at St. Augustine. Amazingly - I was the only one of the group that didn't make a purchase - I must be slipping. I'll catch up soon.

 

We had lunch in the Food Court with Liz & Family at the Outlet Mall near Camping World. There is a much larger Outlet Mall on the other side of I-95 as well. We went in with the RV before going to Camping World. It was totally packed. No room for an RV to park. One RV that did park had cars park directly in front and behind leaving them no space to pull out. So considerate!?

 

We decided to reserve 2 nights at Ocean Grove RV Resort in St. Augustine, FL for a break.

 

 

St. Augustine is the oldest city in the USA. Ponce De Leon landed here looking for the "Fountain of Youth". It was stop and Go through "Old Town". St. Augustine is rated by National Geographic as one of the Top 10 places in the world for Christmas Lights. Once under Spanish rule, this 16th-century city fetes its heritage. Single white candles once flickered from colonists’ windows; during Nights of Lights, the 144-square-block historic district twinkles with two million bulbs (each white, per city ordinance). November 19-January 31. (See Attachment)

 

Day 4 - Sat., Dec 29/12

Liz is off to the Outlet Malls at I-95. We may decide on our next stop tonight or tomorrow. We plan to visit the lights in Old Town this evening.

Next update - probably from our next stop on Sunday - someplace south of here ????